Pre-Wedding Regrets
by ljkeek
Summary: This story is based off of the unsettling previews from CBS for the season 9 finale. I wanted to give motivation to them since the scenes seem to have come out of nowhere. What might have caused the issue with Erin, Eddie and Jamie?
1. Chapter 1 and 2

Chapter One:

He hadn't really been surprised when she stopped by and dropped off "a few things" for the wedding. He knew she hated clutter, she hated being alone and despite being a prosecutor, she hated conflict with people she cared about.

He knew from the look on her face what she was looking for from her father as she sat down across from him at the wooden kitchen table. She placed the glass just above the worn surface, swirling its contents around and staring into the glass as if it would offer her some solution or at least solace. Her heart was heavy, she was tired but there was also an element of anger boiling up that she couldn't quite place.

Her father sighed. "_Rough week?_" was all he asked. She nodded then prepared to unburden herself by taking a deep breath.

Before she could begin he cut her off.

"_So which hat am I wearing for this conversation?"_

Confusion spread across her face, not because she didn't understand his question, but because he'd never made her choose before. She wanted to just lay it all out with him. The professional changes in her life were supposed to be an improvement but they continued to complicate the relationships she had with the few close people in her life. The personal changes were supposed to be good too - although some could not be shared with her father just yet. That was upsetting. Hadn't she earned the right to be happy too? But, she knew some bridges once burned were harder to rebuild - She and Jack were learning that for themselves and construction would likely be a lengthy process. Her father was usually great at being the "other" man in her life. Sorting through problems, getting to the heart of things and then coming out with her feeling more confident on the other side. His question unsettled her and made her wonder if this too was a change she would need to adapt to.

"_I understand you and some of my officers are not seeing eye to eye this week"_ \- he spoke and then he paused to allow her time to accept that he'd called them "his officers". A subtle note of warning about how he felt things had gone. "_I hear one of those officers is Eddie"_...He paused again to let her pick up the story while he firmly established which hat he was wearing on this issue - Commissioner.

She immediately felt her defenses spring to life. She was supposed to be on the side of the law. Her JOB was to listen to both sides of an issue and figure out how to serve the best interest. If something doesn't sound right to her, there is usually a reason. She needs to trust her gut professionally and it doesn't usually fail her...Usually. She attempted to explain.

"_Dad,_" she began

His eyebrow raised just ever so slightly in a questioning way.

"_Commissioner"_ she adjusted, her tone a little more than slightly annoyed. "_I listened to YOUR officers and I didn't think they sounded credible. THAT'S MY JOB. I'm sorry if feelings were hurt but there is no room for bruised egos. If they don't like my decision, too bad."_ she huffed.

"_Are you sure that your decision not to proceed is the one they are taking issue with?" _he sharply but calmly responded? "_Perhaps your written response is the real issue here. If you expect to have the support and trust of the 35,000 officers in this city, writing an email suggesting they lied to you is not the way to go." _ He paused letting his words sink in - continuing after he realized they were not. "_You have probably not heard the last of that email - are you prepared for that?" _The weight of that statement was not lost on her.

"_Jamie already tried and like I told him…"_

Before she could continue he cut her off. "_Do you mean Sergeant Reagan came to you personally, hoping your relationship with him could help cool things down? You seem to have jumped to the conclusion that he said something about it as her fiance."_

"_Come on Dad, really?"_ was her retort but she was beginning to accept that she was not the only one with new professional responsibilities. Her father's remark about capitalizing on relationships was part of all of their jobs...and lives. "_Regardless of whether he came as her boss or her fiance, he has no right to challenge my decision."_ she angrily replied.

"_I think you know that all of us have disagreed with your decisions in the past, and you with ours. I don't think that's really the issue. If it was any other officers, would you have felt the need to make a value judgement without facts, or would you have just thrown it back and asked for more evidence or witness statements? You CHOSE to make it a personal attack on their credibility. I hope you are prepared for the full result of that action."_

The longer the week dragged on the less sure she was. If you had asked her at the time, when her fuse was short and her Irish temper flared, she would have said hell yes, but now...she wasn't entirely sure. She wasn't even sure why it made her so angry. Plenty of times a week she had to navigate through other people's hunches and perspectives to get to the heart of a matter. She was usually able to figure out the real legal issue and stand by it. If a case wasn't prosecutable with the information she had, it was in nobody's best interest to move forward. Even if they didn't want to hear it. Why was this case making her so damn angry and reactive?

"_I am"_ she replied somewhat less sure than before and with no small amount of sadness in her voice. She knew that her father had just established himself firmly on the side of his department and she would need to defend her actions without him to mediate. "_And why can't they just leave work at work. They are supposed to be getting ready for their wedding, we all are. Instead everyone is focused on our professional relationships. If you work with family, you need to get a thick skin about that."_

"_I heard you questioned whether her skin was thick enough for the job."_ he replied as a statement of fact.

She didn't deny it. So he continued.

"_Eddie has been on the job for five years, all of it with Jamie. I would imagine with everything that entails she is plenty tough enough to be a cop."_ he continued with a strong tone of rebuke. "_You do __not_ _get to question the competency of my officers."_ he said with emphasis.

"_That's not what I meant. I meant being a REAGAN cop."_ she tried to explain.

"_But it's what you said...so now you are questioning whether she is fit to marry your brother?"_ he asked incredulously. "_I'm not sure which Jamie and Eddie would take more offense to."_ he sadly stated. "_Erin, is there something about the wedding bothering you? Honestly, I don't think Eddie and Jamie are the problem here."_

"_That's ridiculous,"_ she angrily responded. She finished her drink, stood up and placed it in the sink. "_It's late and I have a lot to do tomorrow. I'll see you later."_ The bitterness in her tone was just simmering below the surface.

As she walked out of the side door, he continued to sit there. This was clearly one of the times his daughter was not seeing the real issue. She needed her mother to say all the hard things, and really get into it with her, then put all the pieces back together with a new perspective. That's how their rebellious, over confident daughter with a rather large chip on her shoulder had become such a strong independent woman, a supportive mother and a prosecutor to be reckoned with. It was a messy journey but Mary had been up to it. Every time he tried to replicate her process, he either made the whole issue worse or "Daddy's Little Girl" ended up playing him like a fiddle. He sighed and missed his wife so achingly that he needed to sit perfectly still to keep from breaking apart. Jamie's wedding, Erin's reaction to her promotion, Danny being Danny...all things that Mary should have been here to enjoy, provide support and navigate with him. Instead, he was an overworked, overwhelmed father whose children were not provided the luxury of being just that. Instead he was their boss, their colleague and sometimes their professional adversary and it sucked. He poured himself another two fingers of whiskey and let the burning feeling spread all the way to the pit in his stomach before he headed upstairs to bed.

Chapter Two:

Driving home she attempted to console herself after unsuccessfully trying to get her father's help. She reminded herself that regardless of how things turn out, it's not like she will be spending a lot of time with Eddie and Jamie other than at Sunday dinners. And after all, if her brothers could master the art of dinners with Jack without any meaningful interactions when they were together, then so could she. Who knows, maybe if things move along a little faster than she was currently letting them with Erin and Jack 2.0, they'd need to do that again too. She chuckled to herself remembering she was planning on buying dad some new steak knives for his birthday, but perhaps she would hold off. There was likely to be a whole lot of tension around the Reagan Sunday dinner table in the upcoming months that even an expensive knife couldn't cut through. She smiled to herself a little bitterly.

Not spending a whole lot of time with Eddie was one thing, but not spending time with Jamie was another. Her heart hurt almost as if she'd been through a breakup. It was silly really, but that's how she felt. Her relationship with her brother had evolved considerably over the years, Jamie had grown from the baby she helped care for, to the teenager who helped her in return when Nikki was small, to her partner at all family functions that required a plus one. They had a special bond that only got closer after her marriage had broken up. Then, he had needed a shoulder to cry on and an ear to talk to when he and Sydney broke up. Through all of the things their mother would have supported him in, Erin filled the void. If she was being completely honest with herself, she liked being a surrogate mother to him. No, she wasn't really old enough, but she had the life experience being 8 years older and was considerably less naive. She liked being the woman in his life who would have to approve anyone else who wanted in. Then again, maybe not she reminded herself. Eddie definitely wasn't on her favorite's list these days and after she and Jamie had talked last, she was pretty sure the feeling was mutual.

Once again she could feel the anger boil up again. How dare he call her to task over a work situation, he was acting like an overprotective….Sergeant. The weight of her father's reminder popped back into her head. Would Jamie have brought it up like that to her if it was any other of his officers? She had to admit, knowing Jamie - he probably would.

Remembering her biting comments to her brother made the pit in her stomach grow even larger. She knew she crossed the line. Her mouth sometimes got ahead of her brain when her temper flared. Anthony, her investigator has his own fiery Italian temper. She and Danny were so alike in that way, and he was often her target so it didn't matter as much with him. They would both blow up, and after they calmed down, heat of the moment exchanges were mostly forgotten. Jamie was another story. She knew that the shock that registered on his face after she called Eddie "thin skinned" and suggested she should find another job had long since worn off. She was quite sure the shock had been replaced by anger.

Many times she had watched Danny push those same buttons over and over with little reaction on the surface until he finally blew. And when Jamie Reagan boiled over, it was no quick flash. It was a deep, hot anger with a very long memory. She had little doubt Jamie could recall nearly every time that Danny had crossed the line. He didn't exactly hold a grudge once the argument was over, but he never forgot. Once Jamie got angry, really angry, there was no telling how long it would last.

Part of her wanted to rush over and apologize. She knew if she had hurt him, he would accept it and they could move on. The problem was that Jamie wasn't angry at how he had been treated this time. He was angry at how she had treated Eddie and that was much worse. One of her brother's finest qualities was loyalty. No matter how angry Danny ever made him, no matter what the other police officers thought of her father's or her decisions, Jamie never wavered in his loyalty - Even if he agreed. He would defend his family. Now that Eddie was his family she fell under that protective umbrella. Erin had insulted the love of his life, just a few days before the wedding, and she knew she was in deep. She hadn't intended on casting a shadow over their happy event but she did. And maybe it was because they were just so damn happy.

She wasn't exactly sure if she was jealous of Eddie but she knew it was something. Something about how she had become almost a physical part of him since they decided to get together. She had moved right in and they were planning the wedding. If you saw either of them off duty, you saw the other. Thinking back to the way she and Jack had begun their relationship, it had all the same speed but with a lot of overshadowing. Jamie and Eddie had chosen their path. Each step they took toward each other was a conscious effort. Erin and Jack had announced their upcoming marriage along with news of an upcoming baby. The path seemed to appear before them with no real choices to be made. Get married, have a baby, finish law school were all laid out before them with no other options like the exits on a highway. Not that Erin minded the way things turned out. Nikki was her greatest joy. Her relationship with Jack was complicated, but she knew deep down they loved each other. It just would have been nice to have some of the choices her brother had. When she announced her wedding, there were plenty of tears and yelling before everyone calmed down enough to enjoy it. Jack had never really recovered from that entrance into the family. Henry, Danny, Linda and even Frank were completely smitten with Eddie's feisty personality and the obvious love she had for Jamie. Everyone was smitten except Erin. Even Erin wasn't sure why. Loneliness seemed to fill her entire body.

She thought about calling Jack. She knew he would come over. But the baggage she carried about their past did not deserve to be mixed in with this situation. Jack would end up feeling guilty, resentful at her family, and this was not helpful for them. She smiled genuinely for the first time all day when she thought about their restart. He had even been willing to see a counselor together to make sure they were taking things in the right direction. "_You will make mistakes this time around,"_ the therapist had assured them, "_just make sure they are different ones." _

"_You can cry on Jack's shoulder later." _she told herself. Once this had all blown over, they could dissect the complicated feelings together. Tonight she needed to deal with the problem herself.

She even entertained calling Linda, but her response would most likely mirror Dad's. Linda had been through enough of Erin's battles with Danny and she generally gave him her allegiance. She was a cop's wife through and through. She would surely identify with Eddie being told that her hunch wasn't good enough. Danny had often complained to Linda about that. Except, that wasn't really why Eddie was upset. It was because her account of the incident was questioned not some gut feeling. Erin hadn't really intended to imply she was outright lying but that is how it came out. Even she had to admit it. Her anger had been seething when she wrote the email and everything spiraled from there.

She was finally able to see that her family was moving ahead without her. Nikki was graduating, and living her own life on her own terms. Erin's greatest news, the truth about her and Jack, was the one thing she couldn't share with the people she loved the most...her family, Nikki, Anthony. Her new job was turning out to be polarizing and far less fulfilling that she had anticipated. Linda and Danny were thoroughly enjoying their emptier nest. It was having an invigorating effect on the couple. It seemed like her family was pulling away from her and she was very, very alone.

Erin parked the car, and wearily trudged up the steps to her apartment building. As she leaned against the elevator wall and pushed the button for her floor, she absolutely refused to cry. She entered her apartment and hung up her coat. She just needed a good soak and some sleep. Once she poured herself a glass of wine and filled the tub, her resolve was broken. She sat in the soapy, warm water and wept.


	2. Chapter 3

Jamie's back was killing him. Spending the night on the couch had not been his intention. He just wanted to give her a little time to cool off. He fell asleep watching some movie he was only pretending to be interested in and now she was really hurt. Last night he had apologized for getting involved and possibly making the situation worse. There was nothing more he could think of to do other than waiting her out.

But, if he had to be honest, that's not really why he was sorry. His interaction with Erin and been a very tough but informative one. She was completely out of line. He was shocked by her response to him and now he knew. Eddie wasn't being self conscious or letting the pressure of wedding plans get to her. Her description had been dead accurate. Too bad he hadn't been particularly supportive.

His sister had been a first class bitch to him when he'd asked about it. So he could only imagine how she came across to Eddie when they met. Erin never had any problem blurring family and work lines with her family. Why was she pushing back at Eddie so hard? And to question her witness statement as falsified was way over the top, even for her. Tough Erin he respected the hell out of. Nasty Bitch Erin was a whole different matter.

His real mistake and the one he actually felt most guilty about was his reaction when Eddie first told him about her meeting with Erin. He'd tried to be diplomatic. He tried to make sure that Eddie hadn't over reacted. But when had she ever done that where work was concerned? She was always spot on - a fact he found tough to swallow sometimes when she gave him advice at work lately. So how did he react when she told him about Erin not believing her? He rationalized it, tried to make her question herself and in the end he was pretty sure he wounded her. She dropped the issue but he was pretty sure it was just because she just crossed his name off the list of people she could turn to with "Reagan" problems.

And yet, when had she ever failed to support him with either of their families? She wouldn't hesitate to stand up to her mother, his father or Danny any time he needed backup. She embodied their "Army of Two" motto. Jamie himself was another matter. He was fine standing up to Danny or his father. He even walked right into Lena Janko's house to tell her how wrong she was about him and her daughter. But this was Erin.

If he was really being honest, he pitied his sister. She was smart, beautiful and her own worst enemy. She had capitalized on her strength and intelligence professionally. But in her personal life, she was a train wreck. Jamie knew damn right well that Jack was only 50% responsible for their breakup. He might also be the only person in the family that knew Jack had wanted to work things out when they first separated, but Erin was so angry and reactive she refused...until she wanted to and then it was too late. Erin could tell you all the reasons everyone she ever dated didn't measure up. She set the bar just high enough that nobody could get over it - ensuring she was never vulnerable again.

He wasn't sure what her problem was with Eddie. They had only had a few interactions where he wasn't present. The first was professional and all accounts were it went great. Eddie held her own and both Erin and Anthony, her investigator, had sent the 2-9 high praise for her. Then there were a few wedding tasks Erin had stepped up for. Dress shopping didn't sound like it had gone badly. Eddie had come back wanting to be joined at the hip with him at work after hearing Erin's description of her marriage breakup. But, he'd never shared that with Erin and was pretty sure Eddie hadn't either. Erin talked about bruised egos but he was pretty sure hers was the injured one. It was a mystery he had no problem letting stay unsolved for the time being. He had more important things to worry about.

He had become quite used to the restorative sleep he got with Eddie curled up against him. Even when their schedules deviated, they made it a point to either go to sleep or wake up together. It surprised him how in such a short time, he'd become completely dependent on having her small arms draped over him while he slept, hair fanning out around her. Last night was miserable and he knew it was the first and last time he would let that happen. He knew he should have gone into bed last night with her. Even if she gave him the cold shoulder, she would have known he was with her. Instead he rationalized that she needed to cool off, and avoided her. If he thought he felt guilty last night, he felt even worse today. Time to rip off the bandaid.

"You still upset?"

He let her vent, she had every right and everything she said was true. His problem was that he didn't have the slightest idea how to fix it. The wedding was quickly coming up and he was not sure the money they spent on a photographer wasn't going to be used to memorialize a lot of strained faces and fake smiles.

Eddie continued to let out everything she was feeling about her interactions with Erin as she handed him a green smoothie. She had recently embraced his desire to eat healthier and get more exercise. He knew it wasn't her thing, but once again she supported him. He couldn't decide whether it made him love her more or feel more guilty as she handed him his breakfast even though she was upset with him. Probably both...Jamie was determined to put all of his focus on making Eddie feel supported. To hell with Erin.

She plopped down on the chair across from him in the living room. He could see she felt more than just angry about it all. She felt alone. For the first time in the past two days, Jamie knew what he needed to do. He stood up, walked over to her and pulled her to her feet gently. Taking her glass from her hand he placed it on the coffee table and pulled her tightly into a hug.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep out here. You know that right?" He whispered into her hair.

"It's OK, I wasn't great company anyway."

"Listen, let's head over to the farmers market in the park. We can have lunch and just relax."

"Sounds great. I'll go grab a shower and get ready."

He couldn't be sure but he thought she pulled away a little too quickly. As she walked back to the bedroom, Jamie was hoping that the hunch in her shoulders was in his imagination. He washed their glasses and the blender. Then decided to get himself ready for a day filled with anything that he could come up with to convince his fiancé that he was a committed part of their Army of Two.

Jamie heard the water turn on in the bathroom. He figured he might as well grab the laundry and throw it into their small stackable unit in the hallway. They still went to the laundromat for most things but it was helpful to have the ability to tackle smelly workout gear rather than store it. As he passed in front of the bathroom door it was ajar. Jamie reached for the hamper just outside the door and looked in. Planning on making an innuendo to amuse his naked or nearly naked fiancé, he stopped short. Eddie was standing in front of the sink in her underwear, softly crying.

Jamie cursed his sister and himself silently and stepped into the bathroom. She immediately turned her back to him so he couldn't see she was crying. Jamie gently turned her by the shoulders to face him. He held her face in his hands, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears.

Time to come clean.

"I am so sorry I didn't support you when you first told me what Erin said. I only wanted to tell myself you were overreacting because I didn't want it to be true. But after I talked to Erin I knew how horribly wrong I was."

He waited while her eyes lifted before continuing.

"You will never again need to worry about having my support. You are my family now. My dad and my siblings, all the rest of the Reagans come second. I will never ever let anyone come before you again."

She smiled weakly at him. "I love you Jamie and I love your family too. I just want them to love me." The tone of her final word was sad.

"Dad, Grandpa, Linda, Danny and the kids - they all love you. They tried to get me to admit how I felt about you for years. As far as Erin goes, It's probably not the easiest thing to learn about us but it looks like you figured out one Reagan secret already. We let Erin get away with too much. Sure Danny has a temper and I am way too stubborn but nobody is ever afraid to remind us of that. Everyone just expects her to be overbearing and chalks it up to her job or being a "strong" woman. When Mom passed we needed her to be the one who guided us through. After that, her marriage breaking up, Joe passing - there was always a reason to let her control things. Now she just is the way she is. But Erin is going to learn that my family will not tolerate that from her. She WILL treat my wife, my children and me with respect or she can get lost."

Eddie looked shocked.

"Don't worry. After the wedding I'm going to sit her down and put it nicely but bluntly." Before Eddie could object he continued "Not to defend you or fight your battles, but for me. She pulled the same righteous crap with me and I let her. If she can't treat me and my family right, then she will hear about it. I'm not her little brother anymore. I'm a grown man. She will need to accept that."

Eddie gently laid her head against his chest.

After a few moments he gestured towards the shower and grinned wickedly at her. That water looks warm and my back is killing me. Is there room for two in there?"


	3. Chapter 4

Eddie was determined that she would not let Erin apologize. If she did, Eddie knew she wouldn't be able to accept it. She just needed to declare a truce between them before the wedding in a couple of days, which is why she accepted the invitation to come down to Erin's office again. Eddie had been proven right, and Erin was wrong. That was the only thing she wanted made known. If she were being completely honest, she knew she deserved the apology, but probably no more than any of the other people Erin had likely accused of lying in their statements or under oath. Somehow Eddie felt like if she accepted the apology, it was like she was accepting that Erin's behavior was some one time thing that never happened before. But she knew it wasn't. She was not going to buy into the family's delusion that this wasn't a pattern of behavior. She was not going to give in so easily. Eddie Janko, soon to be Reagan, was tougher than that. She made the conscious decision to move on from the incident but not with some sisterly hug and a clean slate. Eddie had instead decided that she was going to firmly establish that she was above this.

If they were going to have any type of relationship, it needed to be based on mutual respect and an equal footing. There was a lot to admire about her sister-in-law. In many ways she liked and admired her. But, Eddie prided herself in treating others with respect until they no longer deserved it. She was not going to repeatedly allow Erin or anyone else to rip her apart without cause and then walk back on it later. If she was going to have a good relationship with her sister-in-law, then she expected to be treated as a professional.

Eddie was pretty sure that in Erin's mind she was acting no different than her father. She treated Eddie the same way she would treat anyone. That may be true, but in some ways that was part of the problem. While Frank maintained his professional distance from family and friends by being distant or coldly objective at times, Erin swung the pendulum in the other direction. She expected to be able to grill everyone like a defendant under cross examination, regardless of their role in the case. Then she expected to have them just accept her for it. If you only encountered her at work, that was a lot easier to deal with. Everyone works with someone who is sometimes out of line, but that's part of life. However, Erin and her family were acting like she should take the abuse at work, then pass the salt and share a dessert on Sunday. Eddie would demand respect from Erin, just as she would from anyone. She had stood up to other people who stepped over the line with her and she wouldn't back down just because it was Jamie's sister.

She also refused to ignore what she knew about the character of her friends and family when making decisions. It was not preferential treatment to acknowledge that everything she had ever seen from Jamie's family was above board - there was evidence. As a cop she had learned to gather evidence, but still take things where that led her. Whatever their faults and however they delivered information, she knew they were passionate about doing what was right. She would never give Danny or Erin's account of an incident less weight than a stranger's. They had earned that trust. She could be open minded and not ignore something that came up without difficulty, but the people she knew and respected had at least earned the presumption of honesty and integrity. That is what made her so upset. Challenge her police work, challenge her effort, but how dare Erin challenge her integrity. Eddie knew deep down this had something to do with her father and his circumstances. She felt like Erin had assumed that since Eddie came from a family of crooks, she must be equally dishonest. The truth was Erin treated a lot of people like this and got away with it.

Sure she told a lie when Erin tried to make amends, but it was more of a white lie...and parts of it were true. She did so partly because she truly respected Erin and everything she had accomplished. She had vented to her fiancè. And in some way she might have wanted him to do something...not exactly to fight her battle for her, but she wanted to see how he would handle it when she needed his support in an issue with another Reagan. Jamie hadn't exactly passed with flying colors. First, he tried to frame the issue with Erin as some sort of misunderstanding or overreaction on her part. He acted shocked when he heard about it, when Eddie knew damn right well it wasn't the first time Erin acted this way. OK, maybe it was the first time she'd treated Eddie like this, but Eddie had a front row seat for a few others. And then there were all the stories Jamie had told her over the years. Next, Jamie had tried to help. But he did it in a way that contributed to his family's narrative that Erin was just misunderstood, tough as nails and wielding blind justice like a female warrior. Of course, that hadn't worked out particularly well for Jamie either. Instead of playing into the role of Lady Justice, she had blasted Jamie too. Erin had heard nothing but radio silence from Jamie since confronting him outside the courthouse and that spoke volumes.

In the end, Eddie's loving fiancè had made amends with her. He really listened to how she was feeling and accepted the truth that was right in front of him, with no more excuses, no more free passes. And thanks to Erin, there was no need to just take Eddie's word for it. Erin gave Jamie the complete performance. Afterwards, Jamie resolved to put Eddie and their marriage first, above all else. Erin was his sister and he loved her. She had been his friend, his confident and at times his surrogate mother. However, he assured Eddie that Erin was not his top priority.

Eddie was pretty sure she partly figured out why Erin was treating her this way. Misery loves company. As long as Jamie was also single, surviving a failed relationship and putting work over personal happiness, Erin was not alone. Eddie also knew loneliness so she could understand where that was coming from. Eddie knew that Erin had struggled with her daughter growing up and leaving her behind. Jamie was now doing the same thing. Erin was no longer the most important woman in anyone's life. But, Eddie also knew that wasn't true. She and Jamie had run into Erin with Jack a couple of times lately when they grabbed dinner or drinks in the vicinity of the courthouse.

Erin hadn't denied the relationship, and even sought out Jamie's support for when she and Jack were finally ready to go public with their reboot. Jamie had sagely advised her to just be absolutely sure before they said anything to Nikki. The others in the family would be unaffected regardless of how things turned out. Either they accepted Jack when he came back or their opinion of him was reaffirmed. But Erin and Nikki risked being devastated if things didn't work out. Eddie knew that with Erin's propensity to fly off the handle or act rashly, Nikki's support could likely go in Jack's favor regardless of the circumstances.

Eddie was also pretty sure that Erin was jealous. Not about the wedding exactly. But about having Jamie all to herself. Erin was pissed off because she was no longer the number one person in Jamie's life. If he wasn't meeting Erin for drinks or dinner to get advice, when would she see him?

Eddie had been abundantly clear after she and Jamie spent all night making things right between them, that their relationship was a sacred topic that was now off limits. If they were going to be married, then certain things were between just them. It's not to say that Jamie wouldn't seek his brother's advice from time to time, but their problems were not going to be aired over the Sunday dinner table.

In reality she probably owed Erin a debt of thanks. Because of everything that had happened, she and Jamie had gotten a chance to have a long hard conversation about how their family would handle things in the future. She was going to walk down the aisle fully confident that she and Jamie were on the same page. There was no ambiguity about it and it gave Eddie a huge burst of confidence. While she sometimes feared getting swallowed up by the Reagans, she and Jamie had decided to forge their own path. She would follow the example of her sister-in-law, Linda. Most of the time, she was completely happy going along for the ride. But when need be, Eddie would stand up and hold her ground. She had no doubt that Jamie would be right beside her.

As a result, Eddie was holding her head high as she left Erin's office. She knew it wasn't the last time that things would be tense between them, but Eddie Janko had drawn a line in the sand and Erin Reagan knew it.


End file.
